SuperCoach premiums Aaron Hardie and Glenn Maxwell have both been ruled out of Round 1, while Strikers all-rounder Fabian Allen has arrived and Sam Konstas is firming to play.
BBL NEWS
Melbourne Stars coach Peter Moores spoke to cricket.com.au and confirmed – as expected – Glenn Maxwell will miss their first game due to a grade 2 hamstring injury.
Moores said: “He definitely won’t be fit for the first game. With players like Maxi, and anybody who is an international player, you have to work pretty closely with CA, so that’ll be monitored, and we’ll see where he is for the second game.”
The Stars coach was also asked about Maxwell potentially opening when available and said: “When he did open, he got that unbelievable hundred and you know if he gets going in the Powerplay or Power Surge with only two men out, he could change the game in a heartbeat.
“We’ll look at it – there’s two or three roles he could do very well. We’re not going to give our cards away right now, but it’s an interesting one.”
Moores also said Ben Duckett, once available after England Test duty, will bat “somewhere in the top 3 or 4”.
He also flagged Hamish McKenzie and Brody Couch as 2 players to watch this season. He said: “Spin at the MCG has always been a big thing and (finding) local spinners has been a challenge, so getting Hamish McKenzie over the line (from the Scorchers) was great. He hasn’t played much yet so it’s all in front of him.”
The Scorchers will be without Aaron Hardie for Sunday’s BBL opener due to a quad issue, as confirmed by bowler Andrew Tye, while they’re still sweating on the fitness of Ashton Agar (AC joint), Cooper Connolly (finger) and Ashton Turner (ribs).
Tye said: “There’s 1 that is a definite no and the other 3 are touch and go… I think that’s going to be Hards (who misses out). That injury has been pestering him for a long time. So we’ve taken the safer approach with him to make sure he’s right for the majority of the season.”
Tye also flagged Scarborough club mate Matthew Spoors as someone who could step into the breach and impress. He said: “If he gets a chance, maybe Matt Spoors. We call him Temu.
“I play a lot with him in Scarborough and he has the ability to change a game and be something different for us that we’ve been different.”
Sydney Thunder captain David Warner spoke about his likely opening batting partner, with speculation it could be young gun Sam Konstas with Cam Bancroft and Jason Sangha also in the mix.
Warner said: “We’ll speak about it this week, we’ll see in the warm-up game. I’m probably erring between myself and probably Sammy Konstas at the top.
“We know he’s talented but it’s about going out there in the Twenty20 stuff and trying to work out how to sort of play that format as well, and what he’s going to bring to the table. I’ll have a chat to him about how he wants to play and what his style of cricket is as well.
“We’ll have these conversations in the next couple of days about how we want to play and making sure that everyone’s on the same page.”
Finally, Adelaide Strikers’ West Indian spinning all-rounder Fabian Allen has arrived in Australia and is set to be available for Round 1, followed by their Round 2 double.
There had been confusion as to whether Allen would be called into the West Indies’ T20I squad for an upcoming series against Bangladesh, clashing with Round 1 and 2, but he posted on Instagram from the plane on his journey to Australia.
View all the predicted BBL line-ups here
Strikers – Heat – Hurricanes – Renegades – Stars – Scorchers – Sixers – Thunder
